Lungren's nothing to sneeze at

EXAMINER EDITORIAL WRITER

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, November 20, 1997

1997-11-20 04:00:00 PDT HUMBOLDT COUNTY -- WHEN DAN LUNGREN speaks, it's pretty hard for law enforcement officials to dismiss him as some left-wing nutball. So, Humboldt County sheriff's officers and Eureka police ought to pay attention to the state attorney general's perspective on the use of pepper spray.

Those two agencies are embroiled in a federal court fight over their treatment last month of nonviolent protesters - swabbing a liquid form of pepper spray into their eyes and spraying it at close range into their faces.

In a letter to state senators this week, Lungren said those "very unusual applications" of pepper spray were

LATEST NEWS VIDEOS

Newly Found, Smiley-Faced Spider Species Named After Bernie SandersGeoBeats

Barack Obama Likens Dropping Daughter Off At College To ‘Open Heart Surgery’GeoBeats

Fire retardant is dropped on Oakland hills grass firesfgate

President Trump: 'I Grew Up in New York, I know Many Puerto Ricans'Buzz60

Firefighters battle an Oakland Hills fire from the airsfgate

Fire trucks arrive on scene of Oakland hills firesfgate

"in conflict" with state guidelines. He might have added, but did not, that police use of pepper spray as an offensive weapon is plain dumb.

Lungren thinks laws, rules and guidelines should be obeyed. So do we. Pepper spray has its legitimate uses. Torturing citizens isn't one of them.&lt;

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.